Phish ends summer run with soaring SPAC show

SARATOGA SPRINGS- Around the end of the last century, seeing Phish at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center had become a ritual of summer. Dedicated Phishheads and casual fans alike would swarm upstate New York from all over the country to see the world’s most beloved jam band play at one of their favorite venues.

In 2004, Phish announced that it was breaking up, leaving a hole in the life of those who had come of age whirling their dervishes to “Fluffhead” “The Squirming Coil” and “Stash.” Scores of young adults were forced to come off the road and get actual jobs (or start following the likes of the Disco Biscuits or moe.)

On Sunday night, a newly reunited Phish played at its home-away-from-home for the first time in five years. Old “phans” were thrilled to have back that sense of community and “phamily” back while new fans were anxious to get a taste of the live show and the infamous parking lot scene.

The band opened the sold-out show with high-energy opener “Llama.” A quick verse and band leader Trey Anastasio was already away and running with a blistering guitar solo. But the band seemed, at least at first, to have learned to be more judicious with its improv, because the song came in at well under the five minute mark.

Then the band turned to the jazzy, mellow groove of “Moma Dance,” followed by the Irish gig of “Guyute” and the slow rocker “Anything But Me.” Through each, the quartet infused healthy doses of freeform jam.

Phish sound tighter and fresher than they have in more than a decade. There was no sign on Sunday night of the missed notes and false starts that plagued the band from before their 2000 hiatus until their Aug. 2004 “final” show at Coventry, Vermont.

The stage arrangement is the same as always, with Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon bobbing and swaying center stage while book ended by keyboardist Page McConnell and drummer Jon Fishman. This isn’t a band that relies on the typical rock star pretensions. They all wore plain t-shirts and jeans (except for Fishman who was clad in his trademark polka dotted dress) and could easily pass for the weird uncle at your family reunion.

Midway through the first set, the band pulled out a string of classic crowd pleasers that had the audience rollicking, such as the throbbing guitar rock of “Chalkdust Torture,” the fanciful frolic of “Cavern” and the swagger of “David Bowie.” The crowd was ecstatic during “Golgi Apparatus,” a song that best demonstrates why Phish has attained such cult status. Only they could write a song with such an anthemic chorus that quickly morphs into a complex jazz arrangement and then comes back again. They ended the set with the hippie gospel of “Run Like An Antelope.”

The second set was mostly dedicated to more straightforward rock numbers such as “Backwards Down The Number Line” “Twenty Years Later” and “Halley’s Comet.” There was no stop between songs all the way through a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Rock and Roll.”

None of the band members spoke until more than midway through the second set, when Anastasio told the crowd that he loved them all and how special it was for him to have the summer tour end at SPAC. He then told a silly story about a guy name Jimmy who summons his spirit guide, which happens to be “a funny little man wearing a dress.” At that point, Anastasio jumped on the drums while Fishman took center stage and sang a send-up version of Katy Perry’s “I Kissed A Girl.”

The band ended the set with a classic, the operatic space jazz funk of “You Enjoy Myself” that always makes the crowd go wild. In the middle of it, Anastasio and Gordon executed their choreographed trampoline act before the song dissolved into a fog of non-verbal vocalizations.

For the encore, Phish came out sans instruments and stood around a lone microphone, harmonizing barbershop quartet-style on “Grind.” They then played a new song “I’ve Been Around” before closing with a delicious cover of AC/DCs “Highway to Hell.”

38 Responses

A few corrections/comments… one, I wouldn’t say seeing Phish at SPAC was a “ritual of summer” considering they only played there 3 times, 7/27/92 (one set opening for Santana), 7/10/94 and 6/26/95.

And… referring to Harpua as a “silly story about a guy named Jimmy who summons his spirit guy”? It’s Harpua! The Holy Grail of Phish songs, one of the rarest of rare songs, sought by many but now only broken out at the special shows…

Good show, hadn’t seen them since 2003, brought back memories…who the hell designed SPAC by the way? Getting in and out of that place (the actual ampitheater grounds, not the park) is an absolute nightmare. Made me remember why I’ve only been there twice in the last 10 years despite having lived in Albany for most of my life.

1. Like a previous poster already mentioned, Phish shows at SPAC were NEVER a ritual in the late 90’s. Rather, there was a nine-year lapse from 1995 to 2004 where Phish did not even play the venue.

2. SPAC security at the entrance needs to CHILL THE EFF OUT and get people inside much faster!! I got in line at 7:35 and was only about 15 feet from the first security check point. By the time I finally made my way past the three different check points (one to see tix, another for security pat-downs, a third to scan….unbelievable!!), I had missed the Llama opener that I have so desperately been hoping for since Phish started their summer tour. In all my years of seeing Phish in venues up and down the east coast, it has never taken so long to get inside a venue. Absolutely ridiculous. Then you get to the beer garden and they have one person standing at the front of each of the four entrance lines (which were about 50 deep) trying to apply wristbands to everybody–it was pouring rain outside; either ditch the bands (they literally fell off within seconds) or have 4-5 people at the front of each line to make things move faster.

3. As for the show, I had a good time. CTB was an unexpected first-set treat for me and of course the Harpua was a rare treat as well. The best jam of the night however has to go to BDTNL. Sick.

You dont have the whole story Mike Lieman. Its not like the girl was naked, or in seductive poses. The whole thing was a total farse and you should get your facts straight before you slander people.

The girl was with her father(Hells Angel) backstage at a Dead show and they lost track of her; instead of taking responsibility for the lack of parenting on their own behalf, they wanted to blame Gordon. In fact, the Hells Angels roughed up Gordon and should have been charged with assault. You are way off base and Gordon was never convicted of any crime.

show was amazing, hadn’t seen them since 2001 so this was a real treat for me. They really sounded tight musically, and it brought back many memories. I agree with some of the other posters, getting into the show was absolutely ridiculous, I stood in line for a good 45 minutes only about 20 feet from the entrance for the first pat down, what’s up with that Live Nation?

“Exactly what kind of “misunderstanding” involves a 40 year old adult male going off into a secluded area with a 9 year old girl?”

I didn’t say it wasn’t stupid judgment, but he admitted that too. But don’t you think the cops and parents looked at the pictures he took? And don’t you think if there was ANYTHING inappropriate that the charges wouldn’t have been dropped?

the show itself was awesome, I’ll leave the detailed show review to the pros. getting in and out? In was a breeze for me, but I didn’t wait till show time like some people. get in a little early and it’s smooth. getting out is a completely different story. If there was an actual emergency, like if a plane crashed in there or something A LOT of people would be dead today. one bridge out has always been an enormous design flaw at SPAC.

it was nice to see they finally treated people like adults and let them leave the beer garden with their beers. it’s a start, but there’s still a long way to go on that scene. it seems like the greedy owners would be interested in increasing beer sales and making people happy in the process. they’re clueless apparently. the fact that people even have to go to a “beer garden” in ridiculous! I skipped the beers for that reason.

for whatever reason, this venue is not reaching it potential. beer gardens, ticket purchasing hassles and heavy handed security could all use a closer review.

The “incident” involving Mike Gordon and the 9 year old girl on August 11, 2003 ended with Gordon being found not guilty of any wrong doing a month later after a full investigation. He did admit at the time to using “bad judgement”. Since The Hell’s Angels father of the girl was satisfied with the final police report on this, let it go and enjoy the music.

So, did this author plagiarize from the reviewer at the Saratogian, or vice versa? Or did both of them steal from another review? My money’s on the Saratogian author, who still thinks that Jeff Holdsworth is in the band.

Mike Lieman isn’t interested in the truth or the music. He only wants to spread slanderous half-truths against someone he has never met in the hopes of getting a group of devoted Phish fans to give him some attention…. don’t fall for it.

As for last night, all I can say is this: I have been seeing Phish for twenty years (I loved the song 20 years later), I have seen every show at SPAC (with the exception of 6/20/04), and I can’t remember them being much tighter or energetic. Thanks for reuniting and thanks for coming back to SPAC.

To the SPAC management: thank you for finally treating patrons like adults and allowing them to enjoy the beverage of their choice at their seat instead of in a setting that felt eerily like a concentration camp. Now, please get rid of the entire “beer garden” and sell all adult beverages through the concessions (like every other reasonable venue in the entire country). Otherwise, you will start to lose patrons (and, hopefully, good acts) to some of the other venues (like Bethel Woods).

A couple of observations regarding what other people have already said – and then, my own thoughts on last night…

” #8) My problem with Phish, is that when Mike Gordon was caught, in a secluded area with a 9 year old girl — taking “art photos”, that the other 3 guys in the band didn’t toss him out…”

My two cents: First of all, you have NO IDEA what went down during that “incident”, IF ANYTHING (none of us do, except for Gordo himself)…

Yes, I agree that sneaking off to take pictures of a seven-year old girl who was [allegedly] partially undressed/naked is DEFINITELY sketchy. However, it’s not a crime in and of itself, unless he physically “touched” her (and in this day and age, if he had, the cops DEF would have collected the “evidence” and busted him for sexual assault). And, again – none of us have ever heard what TRULY went down, IF anything (and probably NEVER will!).

I believe that in our country, you are ‘innocent until proven guilty’? In Gordo’s case, no charges were even brought up after the incident. We should all cut the guy some slack. Yeah, he’s a weirdo. Yeah, maybe he’s got a thing for little girls. But hey, nobody’s perfect – we ALL have skeletons in our closets. Let it die already, it’s been like 5+ years now since that “incident”!!!

“#8) [AGAIN] “…It says a lot about the other guys in the band, that they can sit on a bus with such a degenerate.”

My two cents: Again, innocent until proven guilty. I’m sure that the other three guys in the band know the TRUE story, and if it really WAS as sketchy as people made it out to be, they would have released an apology and/or statement to the press (at the very least!). It’s incredible how quickly rumors spread, and how blown out of proportion they get!

Another member of the band (Trey) WAS convicted of a crime in the last three years (possession of heroin and narcotic painkillers). A FELONY. So let me ask you something – is he any LESS of a “degenerate” than Gordo? The same? More so? Besides, who’s to judge?! Again, none of us are perfect!

My last response to this post – Phish would NOT be Phish without Gordo. Just like Phish would NOT be Phish without Trey. NOBODY can lay down the bass like Gordo. If they had tossed him, the band would have been HISTORY. Period.

” #9) …jazzy, mellow groove of “Moma Dance”…

My two cents: Jazzy?! “MELLOW”?! Are you serious?!?!

I’d say funky as hell, HUGE energy, Gordo dropping BOMBS on his bass riffs. In NO WAY was Moma “mellow”, lol…

No offense, but you guys really need to get a long-time fan to write your reviews in the future. I’d volunteer, IF I felt I were worthy of writing a review (which I can’t say I am, lol). Last night was my 31st Phish show, but still – I’m not worthy…

If you don’t have a TRUE fan (who doubles as a journalist/reporter) writing your reviews, they’re gonna come off as “fake”. I’m definitely not saying this review came off as totally “fake”, but it didn’t capture the big picture, either…

Ok, now for my observations:

1) The scene seemed a LOT more laid back, less crowded, and was much LESS of an open-air drug market than years past.

2) First set = OFF THE HOOK – I KNEW they’d make it up to us after the torrential downpours. That had to be one of the sickest sets of the entire tour. (I couldn’t do Hartford, but THAT show – both sets – look SICK too!)

3) Second set lacked most of the energy that was there for almost the entire first set. Not terrible, but not remarkable either by any means.

4) Is Trey really CLEAN? Well, after hearing him play last night, personally I’d say he IS – And I wish him all the luck in the world.

5) The band sounds tighter than I’ve heard them since ’98 (@ the Knick, in particular, 11/26/98 I *think*) or ’99 (One word – OSWEGO!). That first set was just indescribably DOPE. Llama right into Moma?! SICK.

6) Yes it was definitely crowded, but at the same time it almost seemed like LESS tickets were sold (ie. lack of lot scene) – can any of you guys confirm/deny? DID they actually release less tickets than years past?

7) Got soaked but definitely glad I went. PISSED that I lost my cell phone (and that some wook found it and is probably planning to sell it on ebay now), but he’ll get his – Karma’s a B*TCH!!!

“Mike Lieman isn’t interested in the truth or the music. He only wants to spread slanderous half-truths against someone he has never met in the hopes of getting a group of devoted Phish fans to give him some attention…. don’t fall for it.”

Yeah, I’ve determined he’s just a troll. And a troll is best just ignored.

“Yes, I agree that sneaking off to take pictures of a seven-year old girl who was [allegedly] partially undressed/naked is DEFINITELY sketchy.”

Just FYI, she wasn’t allegedly partially undressed. That was never mentioned, everything I read said she was fully clothed. The only “weird” part about it was that they were alone.

After a show like that Phish fans really need to send props to Garcia and the Dead for influening these guys! For without them this scene probaly doesn’t exist on the scale it does today. Jerry would be proud to see solid jamming and improv and is smiling somewhere. Nice.